All language subtitles for Kung Fu S01E01

My name is Nicky Shen.

And this has been my home for 3 years,

Shaolin Monastery in
Yunnan Province, China.

My mom sent me on
a cultural tour of China.

Turned out it was really
a matchmaking tour

- to land me a Chinese husband.
- Welcome to speed dating.

Find your name card at the table...

Just one of the many ways

my mom tried to control my destiny.

I panicked. I ran.

Nicky?

_

_

That was the first time anyone told me

I had a choice in anything.

Pei-Ling ran the monastery.

I was only planning to spend the night,

but then I saw something that
I knew I wanted to be a part of.

These women were
warriors, and so I stayed,

and Pei-Ling became my shifu...

My mentor.

_

_

Shifu.

The purpose of the training is

not to hide from your pain, Nicky.

You must find peace with your family.

Well, peace and my family

don't really go together.

You believe you are the only one

with a difficult family?

I had a very different life
before I became a shifu.

You would not have recognized

the old Zhang Pei-Ling.

So much pain and anger,

regret.

I, too, thought to find sanctuary here,

but what I left behind still haunts me.

Shifu, this is my home now.

Don't make me go back.

You make the path that you live.

Your life. Your choice.

But learn from my mistakes, hmm?

Come.

It will be dark soon.

_

_

_

_

_

_

Shifu? Shifu?

Zhilan.

Hyah! Hyah! Hyah...

Zhilan, no.

The sword is not meant for you.

Shifu!

No! Shifu.

We have to get you to a hospital.

No. The sword...

You must get it back.

You must stop her.

Stop Zhilan.

Don't leave me, please.

You killed my shifu.

I should've killed her long ago.

Hyah! Hyah...

Uh!

This sword is too powerful for you.

Your shifu should've warned you:

Never step in the way of destiny.

Biange has no obstacle.

I looked everywhere
for Pei-Ling's killer,

but she was a ghost.

I had no choice.

I had to go back to
the place I ran from,

back to the people I hurt...

my family, my ex.

I had to go home.

_

Baba.

Nicky.

I'm sorry. I should've called.

I missed you so much.

What happened to your eye?

Oh, nothing. I fell off a ladder.

Uh, let me see you.

You're too skinny. You need to eat.

Come on.

Am I interrupting something?

Oh, the whole family is here.

Althea's bridal gifts
were just delivered.

I'm sorry. What? Bridal gifts?

Yeah, your sister's getting married.

Althea...

Look who's here.

Nicky?

Did you know about this?

No idea.

Uh, congratulations.

Come here!

Well, you look amazing.

Oh. Mom's pre-wedding regime.

She has me on these Chinese
herbs that taste like garbage.

Oh, my God. You haven't even seen this.

Wow!

That's massive.

You know the lucky groom, Dennis Soong.

Dennis, come in here.

The mathlete from high school?

He's changed a little since then.

Nicky? So good to see you.

Yeah! Nice to see you, too.

So how did you two...

Dennis's company was gonna invest

in my software startup,
but things are on hold,

at least until after the wedding.

The cake isn't gonna pick itself. Ha ha.

Well, look who's here.

You miss every family event

for the last 3 years

but show up for the presents.

Power move, sis.

Ryan, I missed you.

I'm pretty sure when you ghost someone,

it means the opposite.

What's with the lab coat?

You haven't graduated yet, have you?

Where's your robe and shaved head?

Thank God. Ha ha.

I'd have to give her extensions

for the wedding.

You're just in time.

We're picking a wedding
date this weekend.

Super low-key event.

Just a fortune teller and 200 guests.

Mei-Li, your daughter's home.

My daughter died 3 years ago.

That honestly went better
than I thought it would.

Mama, I'm sorry.

Sorry?

What did we do to make
you hate home so much?

It wasn't that I hated home.

You know why I stayed away.

What you did, you betrayed me.

What I did was make sacrifices for you.

Tutors, gymnastics camps,

piano, soccer, Chinese. Huh.

I could've used that money
to buy new shoes

or a facelift like
Mrs. Lee or Mrs. Yang.

I would've thought living in China

would make you see "sorry"
is an American idea.

One little word is not a magic eraser.

I know that.

If you were so miserable,

why didn't you say something?

This was a mistake.

Nicky, don't leave.

She doesn't want me here.

I will talk to her.

Meet me at the restaurant later.

Please don't run away again.

Because he defrauded his clients,

because he lied to investigators,

and, oh, yeah, because he's guilty.

Evan.

Sorry. I was gonna call,

but I wasn't sure what to say.

How did you get in here?

You still use the same hiding spot.

Huh.

Where...

What's going on?

I'm not really sure where to start. Heh!

How about the part where
you broke up with me

out of the blue because you
needed time to "find yourself"?

That was 3 years ago.

Evan, I'm sorry.

I truly am.

I just needed to put some distance

between me and... I mean,
you know my family.

The pressure, the expectations, my mom.

Should've stuck up for myself.

Nicky...

are you okay?

Not really.

Well, I'd better get us a drink.

All I could think about was
catching Pei-Ling's killer.

I pulled myself up from the cliff,

made my way to a hospital
and then a police station.

Made a full report.

Gave them everything I had.
I showed them these.

Did they know who this Zhilan woman was?

No. But as soon as I mentioned
the word "Biange",

I could feel a shift.

They tried to get me out of
there as fast as they could.

Biange?

It means "changes" or "transformation".

Something about that word scared them.

I think Biange is a gang maybe.

A new triad?

I tried looking into them,
but I got nowhere.

Looking into a triad
isn't going to end well.

You nearly got killed already.

Right. So I was hoping maybe
you could make some calls,

reach out to people.

You're an assistant
district attorney now.

You have connections with
the police, the FBI. I...

That's why you came to
see me after all this time,

- my connections?
- No, of course not.

That's not the only reason.

Huh.

There wasn't a day

that I didn't think about you

or miss you or wish
that you were with me,

but I was embarrassed and ashamed

for letting my mom pull us apart.

I should've stuck up for you more.

I'm sorry.

I know that doesn't make it okay.

And you have every right to hate me.

But you were the one
person that I ever...

I know you said sandwiches,

but they just got turbot
in from Scotland,

so I thought that I would...

Hey. Hi. Uh, this... this is Nicky,

my... my old friend Nicky.

Nicky, this is Sabine, my girlfriend.

Hello.

Hey.

Coming home was the right choice.

What choice?

You're gone and I have no place to go.

But I'm going to find your killer.

I won't sleep until she pays.

You told me to stop her,
get the sword back.

Who is she?

You will find the answers

because fate has brought you here

for a reason, Nicky.

Everything is connected.

But first, you and
your family must heal.

Hey!

Baba?

Baba?

Baba!

Help!

Wake up...

Help! Baba?

- Ms. Shen?
- Yes.

The surgery went well.

Your husband had a subdural hematoma,

but he's fine now.

We stopped the bleeding
with no complications.

It's a good thing you
got there when you did.

- Can we see him?
- Well, he's resting.

I want to be here when he wakes up.

You all go home.

I'll be fine.

Okay, what is really going on here?

What do you mean?

The attack tonight, Dad's
black eye from before.

You really think that
was an accident now?

- He fell.
- This can't be a coincidence.

But who would want to hurt Dad?

I don't know, but I feel like
I'm missing something.

Yeah, about 3 years.

You have no right to come back

and suddenly decide to care again.

He's tired. We all are.

You need some sleep.
You're staying with me.

_

_

- Can we talk?
- Not really.

Come on. They still have
ping-pong around here?

Is forehand topspin still your weakness?

I'll be back in a few.

- Listen, about yesterday...
- Hello.

Oh. Oh, hi.

Henry, this is my
sometimes sister Nicky.

Oh. I heard you trained
with the Shaolin.

Very nice-looking couple.

No. We're not a couple.

Don't waste time. You
won't be gold forever.

Sorry. I get a lot of,
uh, unsolicited advice

from my tai chi crew.

I'm sure.

Uh, but I'd love to hear
about your time over there.

I'm doing my master's in
ancient Chinese art history.

- So anytime you want to...
- Hey, relax.

She probably won't
be here for very long.

I would love to talk about it.

Great. I'll see you around, Nicky.

What do you mean, everything fell apart?

You were the star athlete,

the one with the perfect grades.

When you disappeared, Mom was
a month shy of having birthed a...

Harvard graduate.

Instead, she had a college dropout

who had a meltdown and went missing.

Sure, it sounds bad when you
put it all together like that.

You left me here without an ally.

You were the only one
who knew everything.

You still haven't told them you're gay?

No. I did. Huh!

I sat 'em down a year ago.

Dad got weird, and Mom's still
pretending it never happened.

Good ol' Chinese denial.

I'm sorry.

I should've been here for you.

I just... I freaked out.

I know I let you down.

I'm glad you're back.

I got to go.

Ohh.

Okay. Of course.

Hey. Um, do you think that
Henry guy is still around?

Yeah. Why?

And so I grabbed the sword,

and it kind of glowed.

But that could've just
been the lightning

reflecting off it or something.

I had only seen it once before,

and shifu warned it was
hidden for good reason.

This sword is why there
are female Shaolin.

Legend has it that the sword holds

an ancient magical power,

a power beyond our imagination.

Nicky, that sounds
like the sword of Liang Daiyu.

Wow. That's... I didn't realize

the sword had survived
through all this time.

Liang Daiyu?

She lived during the Tang dynasty.

According to myth, when all the
men in the village went off to war,

a band of raiders attacked.

Daiyu grabbed her grandfather's sword

and single-handedly
kept the raiders at bay.

The next day, she began training
the other women in the village.

Pretty soon, they weren't just
protecting themselves and their homes

but turning the tide of the war.

And the sword I held belonged to her.

This Zhilan woman,
when she picked it up,

it didn't burn her?

Not that I could see,
but I was more focused

on not getting killed.

Oh. Uhh...

Sorry to dump this on you.

I need to find this woman.

Wait. Let me see your hand.

Huh?

There might be a clue or something.

It's got to be some
kind of ancient dialect.

I have some ideas on
where to start digging.

- I live for this stuff.
- Thank you.

And maybe keep this to yourself for now.

My family's dealing with enough.

Our secret.

- Baba?
- Hey.

You're awake.

How are you feeling?

The doc said no dancing,

but I'll make it to Althea's banquet.

That's still happening?

Your mom will wheel in my
dead body before she cancels.

Besides, we can't let
Dennis's family down.

They've spent a small fortune already.

Baba...

whatever's going on, you can tell me.

I never meant to put you in any danger.

They raised our rent.
Expenses kept going up.

I was desperate, so I took
a loan from Tony Kang.

Who's Tony Kang?

He was one of our best customers.

He's always given business our way

and asking about our family.

I thought I could trust him.

How much did you borrow?

50,000.

It is now 100,000 with interest.

Tony confronted me two months ago.

I thought I could handle it on my own,

but I knew you were scared and ashamed.

Mama, if you two had
just talked to each other.

Your father was protecting me

just like I was trying to protect him.

We have 72 hours to pay the money,

or they said they will kill me

and take over the restaurant.

Let me get this straight.

You want to talk to Tony Kang,

broker some kind of peace with him?

Kang owns Chinatown.

Money laundering, drugs, guns.

How do you know that?

From the clinic. I've seen his victims,

people coming in with knife
wounds and torture marks.

Okay. So talking to
him isn't gonna cut it.

Maybe we can get Evan
to call in the police.

Ha ha. Kang owns the cops, too.

And even if he didn't,

there's no way our community would
talk to an outsider like Evan.

But if he's squeezing Mom
and Dad, he must be doing it

to other people in Chinatown, too.

You're right.

We need to find his other victims.

They talk to us, we get
that information to Evan,

then he can actually build a case.

Hold on. You think we should
be the ones doing this?

Yes.

If what Ryan's saying is true,

Tony's got to have eyes
and ears everywhere.

- We start asking questions about him...
- Exactly.

Plus, why would anyone
even open up to us?

Because we look like them,

speak the same language,

live in the same neighborhood.

One of the few times

not being white has its advantages.

So let's go out into the community,

see what we can find out.

We need all the help we can get.

I'll reach out to Henry.

I don't know...

If I may, we don't have a lot of time.

Hi. I'm Nicky.

- Hi. Excuse me.
- Hi.

We were hoping to ask
you a couple questions.

Oh, sure.

So what my friend and I wanted to know,

if maybe you guys...

Do you know anything about Tony Kang?

A man named Tony Kang?

Do you know anything about Tony Kang?

No.

N-No, I don't know anything.

Don't give up, Nicky.

Faith makes the impossible possible.

Hey. Any luck?

Struck out in a big way. You?

Nothing yet, but I did find
some info on that sword.

For real? Already?

Yeah, I told you. I live for this stuff.

Plus, UCSF has an amazing library

of ancient Chinese texts.

The sword is believed to be
one of 8 weapons enchanted

by an ancient Chinese sorcerer.

It holds a magical power
that can only be harnessed

by its rightful owner.

So Zhilan was the
sword's rightful owner?

That's why it burned my hand?

I think I got something.

The herbalist's cousin

owns the 99-cent store
around the corner.

She's been asking family
and friends for loans.

A few months ago, her
store got broken into,

but she never reported it to the cops.

- It could be something.
- Okay. Let me handle this.

Hi. Can I help you?

Nicky Shen. I grew up around the corner.

My parents own Harmony Dumplings.

Oh, I heard about your
father. Is he okay?

He's in the hospital,
and we were fortunate...

This time.

Swans, like live animals?

- They're trained.
- Okay, it'll be a mess.

They'll synchronize it
when I walk down the aisle...

They're taking over our city.

You shouldn't be here.

You're not alone.

We can fight back against Kang.

I have people who can help.

Please.

I...

I can't.

Hey, you've been asking about Tony Kang?

Aah!

Thanks for the assist.

The guy pulled out a knife on us.

If you hadn't come in...

It was incredible,

especially the spin kick. Ooh!

The guy went down like a sack of bricks.

This has to stay between us.

If Mama and Baba find out...

Find out what? That you're
a kung fu, butt-kicking hero?

I'm not a hero.

The fact that you know
kung fu isn't exactly a secret.

You were at a Shaolin
monastery for 3 years.

Learning kung fu is one thing.

What we did today, I just...

I don't want to make
things more complicated.

What is going on here?

Why am I hearing my children are

going around Chinatown,
asking about Tony Kang?

We have to do something.

So this was your foolish idea?

- Mama.
- Mama what?

Because of your sister,

Tony now knows we're coming after him.

Do you know how much danger

this puts our family in?

We're in danger because
of you and your secrets.

It's even scarier when
she doesn't say anything.

Mama...

what are you doing with
the necklace from Baba,

Popo's jade ring?

I can get $10,000 for all of this.

You can't sell these.

My parents always told
me it wouldn't work...

Coming to this country
to chase after my dream.

What are you talking about?

Gong-Gong and Popo
were so proud of you.

Eventually, after the
restaurant was a success,

but they always reminded me,

I left China against their wishes.

You ran away?

Of course not. I would never
do that to my parents.

But I didn't follow their path for me.

They didn't speak to me for years.

So grudge holding is genetic.

We're the same.

I shouldn't have been so
surprised when you ran away.

You made me learn the Harvard fight song

on the piano when I was 5.

Every sport, every instrument,

it was all engineered by you

so that I could get
into your dream school.

And you knew that I loved Evan,

so you pushed me to break up with him

and live your dream life.

But instead, I found Pei-Ling.

And I thought that maybe

away from the pressure

to be who you wanted me to be,

I'd finally figure out what I wanted.

There's someone here to see you.

Cindy, what are you doing here?

I saw the way you stood up to those men.

I've been praying for
someone like you to show up.

I want to help.

I'll tell you everything
I know about Tony Kang.

You have everything you need, right?

Evidence that Tony Kang is using
Cindy's store to launder money

and CC footage of Kang's guys.

Plus, Cindy's willing to testify.

All of this helps.

I'm sensing a "but" here.

But Kang has weaseled his
way out of charges before.

We need a smoking gun.

We have 48 hours until Kang
comes after my entire family,

if he's even sticking to that timeline.

Our tech team got into his
computers about a month ago.

Half of it is mega encrypted.
The other half's in Chinese,

and we only have one translator,

and she's overwhelmed with
the volume of material.

Evan, my whole family speaks Chinese.

Give us the documents.

Nicky, they're classified documents.

If they ever got out, I'd lose
my job, my career, everything.

Which is why you will need to guard them

with your life.

Thank you.

Just like high school.

Nicky's making crazy visual aids,

Ryan's raiding the fridge,

Evan's stuck to Nicky like glue.

Or just being a good friend.

Sunday Chinese
school's really paying off.

Your mom would be proud.

Hang on.

I think I got something.

Let me see.

One of Kang's shell companies
went on a spending spree today.

How do you know that?

What do you think I've
been doing over here

on this computer for the last two hours?

I got into his bank account.

You hacked into a bank?

Hmm, I prefer "creative
firewall jumping".

Easy to forget she's
not just a pretty face.

I'm seeing payments
for rented warehouse space

by the docks, trucks, private security.

They dropped a lot of cash 6 hours ago.

If they're using the docks,
it could be for anything...

smuggling drugs, guns, people, right?

I'll call in an anonymous tip.

You can follow up from the inside.

All right. I'll make sure the
police go by the docks tonight.

Wait. You're handing this over

to the same cops that let
Kang take over Chinatown.

We figured this out.
We should stop this.

How? No. It's time
to bring in the authorities.

The cops are going to turn a blind eye.

All those people I know he roughed up,

there's never been an arrest.

We don't have a choice.

Evan's on the inside.
He can see this through.

Yeah. And if he can't, then what?

The first people they're gonna
come after is Mom and Dad,

then us.

Thank you.

Don't thank me yet,
but it looks promising.

More good news.

Doctor says you can go home tonight.

We'll go deal with the paperwork.

Hey, have you heard from Ryan?

He was supposed to meet us here

after he checked in at the clinic.

No. I texted him, too. I'll track him.

You can do that?

I can see where he is anytime I want.

That's not creepy.

Yeah. Well, after I lost you,

I figured I'd keep a tighter leash.

Oh, no, no, no. He's down at the docks.

What's he thinking? He's
gonna get himself killed.

Wait. Nicky, you can't go alone.

What are you doing here?

You can't be here. We have to go.

No. I'm getting the evidence we need.

There you are.

Hello, Tony.

Hyah! Hyah...

Ryan.

What do we do now?

Promise me you'll stay back here.

- What? No, I'm not gonna...
- It's our only chance.

Please. You've got to trust me.

Come on. Let's go.

That thing you did with the stick,

- how did you... ?
- Practice.

What do you think I've been
doing the last 3 years?

Whoa, Nicky!

You practically floated on air.

No amount of practice...

- It was just a big jump.
- Nicky.

Come on, Ryan. We got
to get out of here.

And don't tell Mama and Baba.

May 24th is the most auspicious day

for Althea and Dennis to wed.

Since you came back, Nicky,

you've given our family a second chance.

I'm just glad we didn't
have to cancel this.

Nicky, Baba and I spoke.

You should stay at home.

Oh. I don't know.

Althea is a terrible cook.

You are going to starve to death there.

Ah, excuse me. Who's gonna starve where?

The golden child's back.

Ganbei.

- Ping an kuai le.
- Ping an kuai le.

- Yam seng.
- Yam seng.

Oh. Ooh, ooh, ooh.

Is the microphone set up, Baba?

You know what that means.

Hey, Nicky.

Hey. What are you doing here?

Sorry for crashing, but...

I think I know why
Zhilan stole the sword.

And wow. You look great.

Thank you.

But we should talk
somewhere more private.

Here. Follow me.

Recap: Ancient Chinese sorcerer
enchants eight weapons.

Yeah, Henry, I remember.

According to legend,
there's one big caveat.

If someone could collect
all eight weapons,

their powers would be unlocked.

They'd be unstoppable.

Ancient Shamans,

weapons with magical powers.

Ryan said you basically
walked on air back at...

Why is he telling
everybody that? I didn't.

I had momentum. It was physics.

Whatever it was, you took
down an army by yourself.

I don't know if I'm more
impressed or afraid.

Look, whether this magic is real or not,

you can bet Zhilan believes it.

And she's probably working overtime

to find the other 7 weapons.

The legend warned, in the wrong hands...

These weapons will cause great
devastation and destruction.

Maybe that's what Zhilan meant

when she said Biange knows no obstacle.

Pei-Ling always said fate
brought me to the monastery.

What if she was right?

What if this is what I'm meant to do?

To protect my family, my community,

and to stop Zhilan.